cloister
noun /ˈklɔɪstə(r)/
/ˈklɔɪstər/
- [countable, usually plural] a covered passage with arches around a square garden, usually forming part of a cathedral, convent or monastery
enlarge image- The 12th century church and cloisters remain surprisingly intact.
- [singular] life in a convent or monastery
- the calm of the cloister
Word OriginMiddle English (in the sense ‘place of religious seclusion’): from Old French cloistre, from Latin claustrum, clostrum ‘lock, enclosed place’, from claudere, ‘to close’.